If I could turn back time
by zeichnerinaga
Summary: Many years after arriving at Pandora, Jake Sully, Toruk Makto wakes up, years before his adventure started. Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.
1. Waking up again

He woke up.

Jacob Aaron Sully, better known as Jake Sully, woke up. It wasn't something he had expected to ever do again. He had been fighting-again, and sometime during his fight he had gotten injured. Badly. He remembered bleeding out fast, remembered Neytiri, his beautiful wife, crying next to him, remembered begging Eywa for another chance, a chance to make things _right_. But that chance wouldn't come, it was far too late for that. Becoming Toruk Makto-in the end, even that had not mattered. Sure, that first battle for Pandora the Omaticaya had won, but as the saying goes … the battle was fought, but the war had not been won that day. The sky people had come back, in bigger numbers than before, and with _every_ intention to fight, to kill , and to take what wasn't theirs. And he could do barely more than to stand by and watch.

A lone tear rolled down the side of his face as he wished he hadn't woken. All it meant at this point was seeing more of his people dying.

Suddenly he heard a voice, a voice he hadn't heard for longer a long time, and had not expected to hear now either.

"Jake, Tommy, wake up!" It was the voice of his mother. And the voice of his father followed not far behind. "Come on you two. School is starting soon. Wake up, we have made breakfast. You wouldn't want to be late on your first day now, would you?"

Confused Jake opened his eyes.

Was he dead? He thought he was alive, but his parents had died in a car accident when he and Tommy had been 16.

He stared at what looked like the ceiling of the bunk bed he had shared with his brother when he had been small.

"Come on Jake, we're going to school. Get up!" Tommy. Right. School. He remembered. Tommy had always been enthusiastic about learning new things.

If he was dead, it made sense he was with his family again, and since Neytiri probably-hopefully was alive, she probably wasn't here yet. But that was ok. He would wait for her.

He sat up in the bed, putting the legs-and his small, human, functioning legs on the floor and stood up. For some reason he thought his body felt smaller than it should. He looked up (away from the floor, away from his _legs_) and looked again. There was Tommy, and he had no doubt that this was Tommy, his brother, his twin, but what he was seeing … he couldn't belief it. He was so _small_! Tommy, his Tommy looked no older than _six_!

"Are you coming, or what? Hurry up Jake!"

Not saying anything, Jake just nodded and went to put up some clothes, before he went to the kitchen for breakfast.

His parents and Tommy were talking, but h still hadn't said anything, and it seemed his mother finally noticed it. "Are you alright, Jake? You seem a bit off. Are you nervous about school? Don't worry about it. Or are you getting ill? You were just fine yesterday"

"It's not nervous, I just had a bad dream."

"Want to tell me what it was about?"

Jake hesitated. It seemed neither his parents, nor his brother seemed cognizant of the fact that they were supposed to be dead, and he didn't really want to remind them of it either. So he was just shaking his head. "No."

"Ok then, but we're here if you change your mind, alright?" He nodded. "Sure."

After breakfast his father drove Tommy and him to school. School was boring, but, he supposed it was just the first day, and all they were doing right now were introductions.

No, he was dead. But even if he wasn't, he would first have to learn to read and write, before lessons would become more interesting.

But he was dead.

But his school was one such that he would stay in the same building complex until it would be time for college.

He was dead.

Maybe he could skip a class or two, or learn other things out of class.

He was dead.

Maybe, if he was a good student, if he proved himself smart enough, he could get to Pandora again, on his own merits this time, and with Tommy beside him.

He had died.

He wanted to be on Pandora again.

Why wasn't he with Eywa? After all, wasn't he dead?


	2. Dreams Of the past or the future?

_He was flying above endless green. Skyfire, his Toruk was flying around another flying rock. Skyfire had not left after the first battle, and he was grateful for that, as Banshee, his Ikran had died in battle not long after that. He had not taken another Ikran after that and they had been fighting alongside ever since. But today they weren't flying to battle, they were flying to one of their favorite spots instead. A nice sunny spot that was lying directly at the river, with big stones that heated up nicely and on which the big Toruk could rest and they could relax for once. They didn't fly often just for pleasure anymore, and neither did they fly alone often, Neytiri accompanying them, but today it was just them. Skyfire had been the one to show him this spot, he had come here often before they had tsaheylu, and it was their little secret. The Toruk took a sharp turn to the left and…_

… Someone was shaking him awake."Wake up, Jake, we've got to go to school."

Tommy.

It had been around ten years now, since he had woken up.

Sometimes he believed he was alive. At times he thought himself dead. Other times it was hard to tell. Mostly though it didn't matter. Not now, not anymore, maybe never again. He would do well in school, learn fast, so if he was alive, he could use his knowledge to get to Pandora. He wanted to get there so badly. He always got perfect grades at school, always did his homework, and in his free time he was studying other things, things that would help him get to Pandora, like medicine and biology, or he would keep fit and practice martial arts or archery in his free time, to keep his skills sharp, when he wasn't looking up news about Pandora.

He hadn't had much luck with that so far. There just wasn't all that much yet, although lately more and more news about a planet habituated with blue people have been coming in. People, blue people, in space.

On a moon, not a planet, but still. _We're not alone_. was what everyone whispered. well, it was pretty incredible, he supposed. Live, out in space. Now, he just had to find a way to keep them that way. Alive.

he would keep them alive. All of them.

Ten years since he woke up. Hell, had it really been that long already?

He was 16 now, and if he wanted to change his and Tommy's lives, drastically change them, now was the chance. It wouldn't be long anymore until the date when his parents had originally died, and if there was a chance, if it was even possible … he just had to try, he had to know, if he could change things. If he even could save Pandora. This, this was his test.

He still knew the date, how could he forget, after all. He remembered everything so well still. Even after all this time. His parents had been going to a wedding, and they had been running a bit late. Tommy and he had not wanted to join them, so when they finally left, they had had to hurry. It had been raining, and the roads had been wet, and in the end, one thing had lead to the other and … well.

Suddenly he felt a tug at his long hair, hair that he had braided into the traditional braid of a widowed Omaticaya warrior. There were many different braids and all symbolized something else. Gender, age, standing in the clan and family. So was the braid of the little orphaned daughter of a warrior different than that of a young warrior in training, or a mother with three children.

Another tug at the braid.

Tommy. Right. Can't forget.

"What's up, Tommy?" "Hey Jake. Have you heard, Mum and Dad are going to a wedding next month. maybe we can stay home and have some fun alone."

"Have some fun. Alone. And what do you suggest we do then? Throw a party with all our friends? Go to the cinema and watch a movie? Stay up all night?"

"Oh, come on, it would be fun!" "Maybe, but do you really think mum and Dad would allow us to stay alone for the whole weekend? 'Cause that's how long they want to stay away." Last time, it had been me who was the most vocal about staying home.

"Oh man, do you have to take all the fun from me?" he whines.

In the end Jake managed to convince his brother. Now here was to see if he really could change things. And maybe, just maybe, things would turn for the better his time.

* * *

><p><strong>Had this sitting around for a while, <strong>**so, new story. Tell me what you think?  
><strong>


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